Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the surveillance committee of Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010: General view of the pathogens\u27 antibacterial susceptibility

The nationwide surveillance on antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens from patients in Japan, was conducted by Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases and Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010.The isolates were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections during the period from January and April 2010 by three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central reference laboratory according to the method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institutes using maximum 45 antibacterial agents.Susceptibility testing was evaluable with 954 strains (206 Staphylococcus aureus, 189 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 4 Streptococcus pyogenes, 182 Haemophilus influenzae, 74 Moraxella catarrhalis, 139 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 160 Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Ratio of methicillin-resistant S.aureus was as high as 50.5%, and those of penicillin-intermediate and -resistant S.pneumoniae were 1.1% and 0.0%, respectively. Among H.influenzae, 17.6% of them were found to be β-lactamase-non-producing ampicillin (ABPC)-intermediately resistant, 33.5% to be β-lactamase-non-producing ABPC-resistant and 11.0% to be β-lactamase-producing ABPC-resistant strains. Extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing K.pneumoniae and multi-drug resistant P.aeruginosa with metallo β-lactamase were 2.9% and 0.6%, respectively.Continuous national surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility of respiratory pathogens is crucial in order to monitor changing patterns of susceptibility and to be able to update treatment recommendations on a regular basis

Preeclampsia in a pregnant woman with severe aplastic anemia: A case report

Abstract A pregnant woman with severe aplastic anemia was managed using biweekly red blood cell transfusion and oral eltrombopag olamine administration during pregnancy. She was diagnosed with preeclampsia at 35 weeks of gestation. The severity of aplastic anemia is very important for predicting the course of pregnancy

Changes in Cardiovascular Risk Factors over a 24-Year Follow-Up Period : A Japanese Pediatric Cohort Study

This study examined changes in body mass index (BMI), fasting blood sugar (FBS), total cholesterol (TC) and HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) levels over a 24-year follow-up period in a pediatric cohort. An appropriate starting age for intervention to prevent cardiovascular diseases is still unclear. The subjects were 655 children, aged 10-12. A follow-up survey was conducted when the subjects reached ages 13-15, 16-18, and 35-45, respectively, and height, weight, and blood tests including FBS, TC and HDL-C were examined. Forty (6%) of these subjects participated. BMI at ages 35-45 were significantly higher than those at ages 10-12 (p < 0.0001), 13-15 (p < 0.001), and 16-18 (p < 0.001). TC levels at ages 35-45 were significantly higher than at ages 10-12 (p < 0.0001), 13-15 (p < 0.0001), and 16-18 (p < 0.0001). BMI at the end of the follow-up (ages 35-45) had a significant correlation with BMI at ages 13-15 (R = 0.38, p = 0.041) and 16-18 (R = 0.41, p = 0.049). TC and HDL-C values at the end of the follow-up had a significant correlation with those at ages 10-12 (R = 0.55, p = 0.0004; R = 0.55, p = 0.016), 13-15 (R = 0.35, p = 0.045; R = 0.42, p = 0.015), and 16-18 (R = 0.47, p = 0.019; R = 0.44, p = 0.028). These results may suggest that intervention for children in Japan with cardiovascular risk factors should be initiated in the early years of life